Best seat in the house for Beatles concert!

TREVOR AUTY had without doubt the best seat in the house when The Beatles came to Buxton nearly 50 years ago.

Not only was his father Dennis Brooke-Auty, then the Pavilion Gardens’ Entertainments & Publicity Manager, responsible for bringing the Fab Four to the spa town TWICE in 1963, he also managed to get Trevor into one of the Pavilion Gardens concerts for free - at the age of nine-years-old!

It’s an experience which Trevor, now aged 58 and living in Hertfordshire, fondly remembers.

“My father was over the moon to be able to secure their booking in April 1963 and although they were a big name, their worldwide success was still to happen, so it turned out to be a real scoop,” recalls Trevor.

“The concert was such a success that my father re-booked them for a second concert in October that same year. I was only nine at the time, but my father let me watch that concert from the stage wings. I recall sitting on one of their (The Beatles) girlfriend’s knees.

“I remember I was quite scared of the noise and screaming fans at that time, and my father told me that 40 girls had fainted that night!

“It was certainly the biggest pop concert the town had ever seen and I think I am correct in saying that 2,000 people attended that night in October.”

Trevor and his family left Buxton and moved to Hertfordshire a few years later, and Dennis remained in local government until his retirement. He sadly died in 2000, aged 85.

Trevor got in contact with the Advertiser in the wake of publicity for the forthcoming Beatles Night in Buxton which will mark nearly 50 years since the Fab Four first performed in the town.

The event on Friday September 28, 7.30pm, at the Devonshire Dome, organised by Meet Me At The Dome, will feature live music from tribute act The Backbeat Beatles.

Tickets, priced £15 for adults and £7.50 for children and senior citizens, can be purchased at the Devonshire Dome reception on Devonshire Road, by calling 01332 594606 or by visiting http://unishop.derby.ac.uk.